Promises We Keep
by CaptainPuckleberrySwan
Summary: An alternative version of the Eric/Sookie scenes in 7x04. Eric and Sookie's goodbye comes with an extra promise to it, one that Sookie prays Eric will be able to keep.


**A/N: Who else was pleasantly surprised by all the Sooric we got last episode? I know I was, even if I was bawling through half of it. Anyway, when I first watched 7x04, there was one part of the episode that I was hoping (and half-expected) to go a little differently, and even though it didn't actually happen, I couldn't get the idea out of my head. So I decided to write it out in my first ever True Blood fanfic! Things remain pretty similar here to how they happened in the actual episode, but I did add a few extra elements to their conversation at Bill's and their (temporary, I hope) goodbye to fit how I wanted these scenes to go. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

**Obviously, I own nothing as my name is neither Charlaine Harris nor Alan Ball, so please don't sue me. **

**Thanks for reading!**

* * *

"History's a bitch."

"_Well Jason, you've got that right_,' Sookie thought bitterly. History _was_ a bitch. History had stolen her parents, her grandparents, her best friend, and her boyfriend from her, leaving her with nothing but grief and loneliness in its wake. History had prematurely taken the lives of humans and vampires alike and destroyed the lives of anyone unfortunate enough to be left standing. History had not been fair to her or the people of Saint Alice or Arlene or Holly or anybody in this room right now, and for that, history was most certainly a bitch in Sookie's book.

Sookie's mental rant against history was cut short, however, by the sound of three firm knocks at Bill's door. Curious and slightly wary, Sookie watched carefully as Bill made his way towards the entrance, not missing Jessica quickly picking up the stake on the table, ready to protect her maker should the need arise. Hastily putting down her mental shields, Sookie scanned the area for any human thoughts coming from the front door, checking to make sure it wasn't Vince and his group of suicidal, manic vigilantes at the other side. Met with nothing but two black voids, Sookie relaxed, if only a little. She still had no idea whether the vampires outside were friend or foe.

But when Bill greeted his visitors with conversation and not fangs, Sookie knew whoever was out there posed no threat to Bill or any of them. After a few moments, her curiosity got the better of her and Sookie called out, "Bill? Who is it?"

"Oh perfect, Sookie's here."

Sookie froze. No, it couldn't be. She knew that voice. If she had a dollar for every time that voice had fashioned a new way to tell her to fuck off, she would be one wealthy woman. And if the void that had just spoken belonged to Pam, then the other must belong to…

Sookie hadn't even realized she'd risen from her seat until she found herself running into the arms of a very familiar, 6'4" blonde vampire. "Eric!" she exclaimed, relieved that he was alright and mildly surprised that he had come. What was he doing here? Was he here to help? Had Bill called him? Where the heck had he been these past six months? Still beaming at the return of her old friend and lover, Sookie pulled away from Eric's embrace, intending to ask him these very questions when something caught her eye.

Looking down at his chest, Sookie felt the smile wipe clean off her face to be replaced by a look of horror. Stunned with disbelief, she could only shake her head in denial.

"No."

No, those weren't black veins decorating his body; she was just imagining them. No, Eric was not sick with Hep-V. No, Eric Northman was not mere weeks - or God forbid days - away from dying.

"I'm still here Sookie," she heard him say in a pathetic attempt to make her feel better. That was not the response she was looking for. He was supposed to say "Don't worry, Sookie. It's not what you think" or "C'mon Sookie, do you honestly think I'd let myself die from a fucking disease?" She'd even settle for "April Fools! Got you worried there, didn't I?" if it meant that what she was seeing would cease to be true. But she got no such response.

So instead, she searched his face, desperate for the confirmation she needed that she was wrong. And once again, she was denied. All she found there was longing.

In that instant, Sookie's world seemed to collapse around her. She had _just_ lost Alcide and now her heart felt like someone was banging it with a sledgehammer because the universe was preparing to take Eric away from her too. Only a few months ago, Sookie had thought she'd suffered her worst Eric-Northman-induced heartache when she'd rejected both him and Bill inside this very house. She remembered thinking that that had been the most difficult decision of her life and the pain she'd had felt immediately after had been enough to reduce her to a teary mess on Bill's porch. Of course, it had only taken her a few weeks to prove herself wrong there; rejecting him the first time had been hard enough, but when she'd rejected him the second time, rescinding his invitation to her house and being forced to stare into the shocked, forlorn eyes of Eric Northman through her door, Sookie had been convinced that no, _this_ was the worst Eric-Northman-induced heartache she would ever experience. And once again, she was proven wrong. Those two incidents paled in comparison to what she was faced with now because now she wasn't just saying goodbye to a relationship with the former Viking. This wasn't just a temporary door she was slamming in his face. This one was iron-clad with a silver plating added for good measure because now she was being forced to say goodbye to Eric Northman forever.

Despite the sea of emotions she was currently drowning in, Sookie couldn't help but be surprised by just how often her heart had broken over Eric Northman and just how much it fucking hurt every time it did.

* * *

Sookie followed Bill as he led her and Eric to one of the many rooms in his renovated mansion, refusing to look at Eric and face the tell-tale black veins that were peeping out over his shirt as she did.

"We'll be waiting for you out front," Bill announced to the pair.

In a panic, Sookie almost shouted out for Bill to stay. She couldn't be left alone with Eric, not now. She needed more time. She wasn't ready to confront the harsh reality that was Eric's current condition. Once Bill left, any last distraction Sookie had from those awful black veins would leave with him and Sookie was afraid of what would happen when it did. But despite the war that was raging in her mind, Sookie kept her calm composure, simply nodding at the retreating vampire to show she understood.

"Thanks, Bill," Sookie replied automatically as she watched the doors close. Left facing nothing but a great gray slab of wood, Sookie resolved that ready or not, she couldn't keep putting off the inevitable any longer, so for the first time since they'd stood in Bill's foyer, she turned her gaze onto Eric.

For a moment, the two of them just stared at each other, both waiting for the other to speak and neither knowing what to say first. How were you supposed to start a conversation like this? 'Sorry to hear you're dying'? But to her relief, Eric, as he had so often done before, took that burden from her by breaking the silence first.

"So, what kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into tonight?" Eric began, walking towards her with something of his usual swagger. As he approached, Sookie's eyes automatically landed once again upon the offending marks on his chest.

"You're one to talk," Sookie quipped back automatically, her retort lacking all of its usual bite and her voice cracking on her last word. No, she would not cry.

"Fair enough."

Silence fell upon them again as Sookie continued to stare at his chest, still in denial. This wasn't happening. Eric Northman did not have Hep-V. There had to be a lie in there somewhere, a loophole or something. Sookie refused to wrap her mind around the simple fact that the vampire in front of her was dying.

Finally finding the strength to tear her eyes away from his darkened veins and training them instead upon his eyes, Sookie voiced the one thought that had been rooted in her head from the moment she'd seen the truth. "You can't die on me."

As if telling him that would stop it from happening.

In the moments that followed, Sookie wished she could take her eyes off of Eric's face because the look he was giving her now was so dejected, so unlike the Eric Northman she knew that it was breaking her heart just to see him wear it. She had to swallow back the lump in her throat and the tears stinging her eyes as she forced herself not to look away.

"Sookie Stackhouse," he rasped, seemingly unable to think up any other response to her plea. "How have you been?"

"Shitty," she answered honestly. "My boyfriend died."

The moment she said it, she wished she hadn't. She and Eric had always been something of a loose end, never having the true closure she felt they needed. Lord only knew how Eric would react to her news, and she did not need nor did she want to deal with a jealous or pissed off Eric Northman. Not now.

"Your boyfriend?"

Sookie straightened testily at the shift in Eric's tone.

"Alcide. He and I were… together," Sookie said in answer to Eric's query, bracing herself for what he would do next.

At first, Sookie wondered if he was actually going to say anything at all as he looked at Sookie with an unreadable expression. But after collecting his thoughts, he did indeed speak.

"The werewolf? I signed your house over to you so you could take your life back," Eric started, and Sookie couldn't help but notice that he was beginning to sound like his usual, snarky self again. She had to stop herself from grinning at this fact: he was, after all, in the midst of telling her off for dating a guy who had met the True Death hours before. "How is dating a wolf any bett-"

"Don't. He died this morning," she suddenly cut him off before he could finish the sentence. As much as she enjoyed seeing Eric get his attitude back, it was still way too soon for her to hear the vampire in front of her scold her for dating a werewolf. Besides, she thought she knew what Eric had been about to say next, and she was too emotionally spent to deal with her unresolved feelings for Eric Northman and revisit the very questions she'd been asking herself for six months. Sookie waited to see what he would do, half expecting him to continue lecturing her anyway. But to her relief, he didn't push it any further and instead reached out to collect her in his arms, an "I'm sorry" on his lips.

As Eric's arms surrounded her, Sookie finally allowed herself to succumb, if only a little, to the emotions she'd been forced to keep bottled up all day. Here in Eric's embrace, she felt safe for the first time since Alcide had died and it was only here, in the safety of her dying vampire's arms, that she felt safe enough to let her guard down and grieve – safe enough to be vulnerable.

"Where were you?" she asked quietly, the level of pure sadness in her voice surprising even her.

As Eric's fingers gently brushed through her hair and he began listing all the places he'd been, Sookie could feel the slight rumble of Eric's answer through the cheek she had pressed against his cold, steady and now marked chest and she almost broke down completely. Try as she might, Sookie couldn't get the image of the black veins staining Eric's body out of her mind. Eric Northman had been a constant in her life since the day she had walked into his bar. A manipulative, arrogant, pain-in-the-ass constant sometimes, sure, but a constant nonetheless. She'd always, perhaps foolishly, believed he was invincible, able to survive the most outrageous situations – and get her out of those very situations in the process – and with a small gasp, Sookie realized that up until now, she had never truly considered the idea of a world without Eric Northman in it because up until now that possibility had always been an impossibility. She'd always expected him to just… be there. But Sookie could see that the blonde towering before her was now facing the one fight he himself believed he had no chance of winning.

"You should go sometime. You'd like it there," Eric's next words broke Sookie out of her reverie.

"Hmm?" she asked, pulling away from Eric's chest to stare questioningly into his icey blue eyes.

"Sweden. My homeland. I think it would suit you," he repeated, pushing away the stray hairs that were lying across her face.

Despite the situation, Sookie found it in her to give a shaky laugh. "Are you kiddin'? I'd probably freeze to death. My blood was made for the heat of Louisiana, not the arctic tundra of Sweden. Y'know, I don't think I even own a real coat. Never really needed one here in Bon Temps."

"Mm.. I think your Louisiana blood would be fine, especially if you went during summer." Eric was still studying her face, running his fingers through her ponytail while he spoke. "And you wouldn't even notice the weather once you saw the landscape. The view… it's breathtaking," he finished in a hoarse whisper, his eyes now glued to hers.

Sookie swallowed nervously from the intensity of his gaze, but refused to turn away. "I'll tell you what," she breathed, her eyes still trained on his, intent on memorizing every shade of blue she could find in them. "I promise to visit Sweden if you promise to be the one to take me."

Eric stood silently for a moment and Sookie waited tensely for his response.

"Sookie…" he began, her name rolling off his tongue in that light accent of his. "I can't pr-"

"Promise me Eric." Sookie's voice was soft but firm, making it clear that she was not going to take no for an answer. She knew he'd try to turn her down and she knew it wouldn't be fair for her to hold him to such a promise, but she needed to hear him say it. Even if he couldn't keep his word. She needed to believe that he was confident he would survive.

"Sookie –"

"Promise me." She could hear the reluctance in his voice, but tonight, she was going to be selfish. She felt she'd earned the right to after the 24 hours she'd just had. "Please. I don't want to see Sweden if I can't see it with you," she added quietly.

For a long moment, Sookie feared Eric would reject her again or simply not say anything at all. But to her relief, the tall vampire broke the silence with an "Ok," accompanied by a short nod.

She hadn't even realized she was still crying until Eric swiped a finger across her face, catching her tears and brushing them away.

"What kind of trouble are you in?" Eric repeated his question from earlier and this time, Sookie knew he wanted an answer.

* * *

Sookie was exhausted; emotionally, physically, and mentally exhausted. In the past twenty-four hours alone, she had seen her boyfriend die, pushed Holly to remember her time in Fangtasia, learned the truth about Eric's health, willingly walked into a nest of hungry, diseased vampires and had been left to helplessly watch as Arlene, one of the last friends she had left, nearly slipped away from her before being saved at the last minute by Keith. To say she had had an emotionally taxing day would be an understatement.

As she clung to Arlene, Sookie took a moment to center herself again, pushing herself to just make it through these next few minutes before she could retire to her home and put this God-awful day behind her. But then he walked in, her thousand-year old Viking-Vampire, and she felt her breath hitch in her throat. Meeting his eyes, Sookie gave him a small smile, a small "thank you" for everything he'd done for her today and every day before that. Thank you for saving Arlene. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for giving me your heart, even when I refused to give you mine.

His eyes bore into hers, captivating her like they always did. For a moment that felt to Sookie like an eternity, Eric stood silently in the back of the room, his eyes raking over Sookie's face as if he were trying to commit every detail of it to memory. And in her deepest of hearts, Sookie knew that that was exactly what he was doing. She wanted to reach out to him, collect him in her arms like she was currently doing for Arlene. She wanted to tell him that it was going to be ok, that this was not the end and that they would see each other again. More than anything, she wanted to believe that herself. But she couldn't and as Sookie continued to stare into his eyes, she thought she saw tears begin to fill them before he turned and walked away without a word, tugging a piece of her heart away with him.

"_No,_" she told herself when she felt the urge to cry rise up yet again. "_No, Sookie. You will not cry. Not now. That wasn't goodbye. You still have Sweden._" Clinging to the promise of Sweden like it was her lifeline, Sookie gently extracted herself from Arlene's embrace and with a kiss to the top of her friend's flaming red hair, handed Arlene off to Jason's ready arms before running out the door _he_ had just left through.

"Eric!" she called out to the retreating Viking, her hands clutching the door frame as she waited with baited breath to see if he would stop. He did, but his body refused to turn around and face her, so Sookie ran up to him instead. Clutching the smooth, black leather arm of his jacket, she rushed to stand in front of the blonde vampire, locking eyes with him.

"I'll be waiting," she insisted. "For our trip to Sweden," she smiled softly, the additional 'For you' remaining unspoken. Sookie knew Eric could sense it there all the same.

He returned her smile with one of his own, a smile she did not recognize. It wasn't his usual cocky smirk or even the sweet and tentative one she'd come to know during the Marnie days. Broken. That was the only word she could use to describe it. For the second time tonight, Sookie was being forcibly reminded that her Viking was broken. And she hated it.

He swallowed. "Until Sweden." Eric's hand rose to softly caress her face before he closed his eyes and dropped his lips to her forehead. She let her own eyes flutter shut, simply taking in his presence as his lips lingered on her skin for a second she never wanted to end. If she didn't know better, she would have sworn she felt his usually steady hand momentarily shake against her tear-stained cheek before the same cheek was slapped with the cool night air.

For a second, Sookie simply stood there, refusing to open her eyes and be met with empty space. If she just stayed like this, she could pretend that he was still there, standing right in front of her. But then she looked, and he was gone.

With a sob, Sookie crumbled to her knees and let the tears fall freely. Last night she had lost her boyfriend and tonight she had lost her Viking. History was a bitch, and right now the future didn't seem to be looking much better.


End file.
